Showing titles in Media Studies

Facebook, Google, X (Twitter) & Co., die "Big Tech" genannten IT-Riesen aus dem Silicon Valley, glauben, die Kommunikationsstandards von Milliarden Menschen über ihre Richtlinien und Standards vorschreiben zu können. Diese Anmaßung erfolgt ohne jede demokratische Legitimation. Durch ihre geradezu monopolistische Stellung bestimmen sie die Rahmenbedingungen öffentlicher Kommunikation. Mit dramatischen Konsequenzen: tausendfacher Rechtsbruch, digitale Massenvernichtung freier Rede und drastische Eingriffe in die Meinungsfreiheit sind die Folge.

Can reading a book make you more rational? Can it help us understand why there is so much irrationality in the world? Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now (Bill Gates’s "new favorite book of all time”) answers all the questions here Today humanity is reaching new heights of scientific...

In QAnon and On, Guardian columnist Van Badham delves headfirst into the QAnon conspiracy theory, unpicking the why, how and who behind this century’s most dangerous and far-fetched internet cult. From Gamergate to Pizzagate and beyond to QAnon, internet manipulation and disinformation campaigns have grown to a geopolitical scale and spilled into real life with devastating consequences, entangling everyone from politicians to Hollywood celebrities.

“A beautiful book… an instant classic of the genre.” —Dwight Garner, New York Times A New York Times Critics’ Top Book of 2021 A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Named a Best Nonfiction Book of 2021 by Kirkus Winner of the 2021 National Jewish Book Award in...

A “lively and sprawling” (The New York Times) oral history of the New York Post and the legendary tabloid’s cultural impact from the 1970s to today as recounted by the men and women who witnessed it firsthand. By the 1970s, the country’s oldest continuously published newspaper had fallen...

The story of an infamous poison that left toxic bodies and decimated wildlife in its wake is also a cautionary tale about how corporations stoke the flames of science denialism for profit. The chemical compound DDT first earned fame during World War II by wiping out insects that caused disease...

Outside of the progressive academics and activists whose ideology came to dominate the West in the second decade of the twenty-first century, arguably no group influenced public discourse as much as the Intellectual Dark Web.

In 1975, 15-year-old Martha Moxley's body was found in the backyard of her family's Connecticut home, and a member of America's beloved Kennedy family, then also 15, was accused of the crime. What ensued was a media firestorm and a whodunit that transfixed the nation, providing daily debates - and cruel, dinner table entertainment. Now, 40 years after Michael Skakel's conviction, his cousin, acclaimed activist and writer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has taken matters into his own hands to get the charges dropped and clear his cousin's name.

The 2030 Agenda, proclaimed at the 2015 United Nations Summit in New York, is a "global future contract" which national governments are expected to adhere. This agenda includes 17 so-called "sustainability goals" that look good on the surface. A closer look reveals the same actors who want nothing less than full control over the earth's resources, a single centralized world government, and the enslavement of all human beings on earth.

Conspiracy theories, and particularly the belief that elements of the world are secretly controlled by individuals or groups, have been around for as long as people have lived in groups. Perhaps that’s inevitable—after all, those who are excluded from power are very likely to be inclined to see their position not as an outcome of their own choices or situation but because of the secret machinations of shadowy groups. One of the most widely discussed conspiracy theories concerns what has become known as the New World Order.

In this incisive new work, Adrian Daub analyzes the global spread of cancel culture discourse as a moral panic, showing that, though its object is fuzzy, talk of cancel culture in global media has become a preoccupation of an embattled liberalism. There are plenty of conservative voices who gin up worries about cancel culture to advance their agendas. But more remarkable perhaps is that it is centrist, even left-leaning, media that have taken up the rallying cry and really defined the outlines of what cancel culture is supposed to be.

In The Advertising Effect, respected advertising insider, Adam Ferrier, reveals the ten techniques used by some of the best-known brands across the globe. These techniques are grounded in psychological theory with award winning real world examples and explore how the most effective way to change behaviour is through action rather than the conventional advertising practices (emotional or rational persuasion).

In Propaganda, Edward Bernays offers a groundbreaking exploration of how public opinion is shaped in modern society. First published in 1928, this influential work argues that the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the habits and opinions of the masses is a central feature of democratic life.

A comprehensive and thought-provoking investigation into one of the most polarizing words in the English language. Few words in the English language are as misunderstood as “like.” Indeed, excessive use of this word is a surefire way to make those who pride themselves on propriety, both...

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, one renowned scientist, in his famous bowtie, appeared daily on major news networks such as MSNBC, NPR, the BBC, and others. Dr. Peter J. Hotez often went without sleep, working around the clock to develop a nonprofit COVID-19 vaccine and to keep the public informed. During that time, he was one of the most trusted voices on the pandemic and was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his selfless work. He also became one of the main targets of anti-science rhetoric that gained traction through conservative news media.

Explore the Stories Behind the Legends In 1984, Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter brought Marvel’s heroes and villains together for an epic battle that became the template for comic book crossovers and impacted Marvel’s storylines for decades, including major changes to the Spider-Man...

It seems like we can't talk about anything nowadays. Whether it's war or something utterly inconsequential, the internet is primed for furor. And the results can be horrifying—from online pile ons and doxing to job loss and, in some cases, death. But how did we end up here?

What is new about how teenagers communicate through services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Do social media affect the quality of teens' lives? In this eye-opening book, youth culture and technology expert danah boyd uncovers some of the major myths regarding teens' use of social media. She explores tropes about identity, privacy, safety, danger, and bullying. Ultimately, boyd argues that society fails young people when paternalism and protectionism hinder teenagers' ability to become informed, thoughtful, and engaged citizens through their online interactions.

Do you have a neighbor or, heaven forbid, friend or family member, who regularly spews utter nonsense in your direction along the lines of their government being out to chip them or that a quack aromatherapy pill like vitamin D might save lives from Covid? Or perhaps you have been accosted by a random conspiracy theorist in the street who adamantly believes that everyone should add horse-dewormer to their morning coffee or that lockdowns aren’t the pinnacle of scientific acumen that they clearly are and that whoever invented them should obviously win a Nobel Prize?

This audiobook is the story of two men who began an odyssey together that became a thread, which when unraveled, reveals how Cold War paranoia escalated into the death of a president. Robert Edward Webster and Lee Harvey Oswald were manipulated like marionettes on strings of espionage. Unraveling these strings (or threads) may lead us to the puppeteers controlling them.